Tuesday, November 29, 2011

And the colors for the final submission to Project Rooftop's Invincible: Viltrumite Vogue redesign contest. A couple of the costumes I worked up for Mark worked a little better for his father and brother, so I threw them in there. I also couldn't help but do a super swift and light redesign of Allen the Alien... because I love Allen. And you should too. Hope you guys like!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

So I'm working on designs for the Project Rooftop: Viltrumite Vogue contest. I've been a huge fan of Invincible ever since I picked up the first hardcover on a whim several years ago so this contest was right up my alley.Redesigning Mark's costume is something of a trick, since it was so well designed in the first place. Keeping a simple superhero aesthetic simple, while still making it look fresh and nuanced is a tough tightrope to walk. Not quite a dozen designs here, ranging from space-man to Kirby to Best Buy salesman. Towards the end I realized that I wasn't so much designing for Mark anymore as I was for his father, as sometimes happens with design, occasionally you drift off topic. Most of this was about finding good shapes and refining them. I've decided which piece I'm going to develop into the final, but for now, you'll have to make due with the prelims. Until next time!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Finished piece intended for the DC Fifty-too Blog (now Marvel-Too) This one of a mock Devil Dinosaur series pitting DD against his traditional companion, Moon Boy. Here's the flavor text:

On a world whole realities away from our own, Moon Boy rescues a dying lizard from the molten flames of a scorched landscape. Eight years later the beast has grown in size and hunger. It has become more than beast. It has become a devil. And the tribe of Small Folk now worship it as a god. Moon Boy must now defend his family from the very creature he once sought to save. But how can he triumph against the most deadly monster his world has ever seen. The devil is strong. The devil is ready. It is the Valley God, the Lacertilian King. It is Devil Dinosaur: Imperious Rex.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

A commission done for the ever-lovin', blue-eyed Aron Head over at Ideology of Madness. He's starting a commission series of comic characters enjoying a cigar and/or tasty adult beverage. As the first commission on this series I felt I needed to set the bar high. A fancy trick of sketch books and commission series is making the first few in the series very high end commissions. This works particularly well in a sketch book scenario. The next artist in line picks up the book and before starting typically takes a look through. The better the art previous the more subconscious pressure there is to make the next piece meet the rest in terms of quality. Yes, this is a subtle, horrible way to play on an artist's natural self-loathing, but it works. If it were me getting the commission, I'd do it, and being the first in a series I'm happy to set the bar as high as I can for everybody else. Good business practice: when a good customer comes your way (and Aron is absolutely the model case for "good customer") treat them right.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Portal 2 commission for a friend. She's a cosplayer and the context for this image was actually taken from a fan film she put together for a Valve competition. Check the video out here. Yes, that is her as Chell, and yes, she made that companion cube herself.

Solomon Azua - Action! Adventure! Aliens!

About Me

I am a comic book artist, writer and visual storyteller from Dallas Texas. To date I've worked on hundreds of pages of comic book material, largely in the form of self published webcomics. In addition I've done a smattering of illustration and design for corporate and private clients. I was recently published for the first time in Digital Webbing Presents vol 2 (as both writer and artist) and I have just completed a retailer exclusive variant cover for Avatar Press's comic War Goddess. Currently I'm the writer and artist of the Glyph Award nominated webcomic Solomon Azua.